Laura Lane

Luther’s Church Postil has been available in an old, imperfect English translation, but now there is a better and more reliable edition. Luther’s Works: Volume 79: Church Postil V, published by Concordia Publishing House, reflects a significant milestone in the publication of Luther’s Works in English. The complete, best, last, and final edition of the Church Postil, based on the one Luther personally approved, is available for English-speaking readers for the first time.

By way of introduction to the Church Postil, let’s begin first with that rather odd word, Postil. The word is from the Latin expression post illaverba, meaning literally, “after these words.” What words? The words just read from the Bible in the church service. A postil, therefore, is a sermon intended to explain the biblical text just heard. In Luther’s time, there were various postil collections available; they were collections of sermons on the annual cycle of readings from the New Testament Gospels and Epistles.

Volume 79 is a translation of the last and final authoritative edition of the Church Postil,a project Luther worked on periodically throughout his life, starting with the first edition he prepared while in exile (protective custody) at the Wartburg Castle. There he worked on the Latin 1521 Advent Postil and then the 1522 Wartburg Postil. [Read more…] about The Church Postil as Luther Intended It

The Barna Group recently conducted a survey on the topic of supernatural physical healing and discovered that the majority of Americans—Christians, people of other faiths, and even those who claim no faith—believe God can heal people supernaturally . . . miraculously. But what does God tell us (and warn us) about miracles?

The following excerpt from Faith and Science in a Skeptical Age titled “Miracles and Manipulations” confronts common myths, misconceptions, and motivations surrounding the topic of miracles and supernatural healing.

Miracles and Manipulation

For centuries, people have sought signs or miracles. During Jesus’ ministry, the Jewish religious leaders demanded that He show them His miraculous power. Christ rebuked them, stating, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah” (Matthew 12:39).

Jesus, of course, was not against performing miracles. But He rebuked the religious leaders of His day because of their motives in asking for miracles. They requested miracles in order to test Him without any sincere intent to follow Him. They also disconnected miracles from the promises of God’s Word. Christ rebuked them by alluding to His resurrection: “For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).

People crave miracles for any number of reasons, but this can reinforce sinful motives and emphasis on self. In Deuteronomy 29:29, God tells the Israelites to rely on what is revealed to them in His Word. To go beyond the Lord’s self-revelation is not only going beyond God’s will but also going against it. Furthermore, it is a fruitless endeavor. Speculation is just that: speculation. How can somebody know what is not available to them for examination? God’s revelation to us in His Word is sufficient for our knowledge concerning Him and our salvation. [Read more…] about What do you believe about supernatural healing? Are you in the 66%?

Concordia Publishing House was honored to be invited to display our books at the recent meeting of the Studiorum Novi Testamenti Societas. Commonly called the Society for New Testament Studies, this is the premier meeting “by invitation only” for the most accomplished New Testament scholars in the world.

This year, 274 scholars attended the meeting in Montreal, Canada, August 2–5. Baylor, Baker, and Fortress also displayed books. Cambridge U. Press and Bloomsbury/T&T Clark came from England; Mohr Siebeck and Walter de Gruyter came from Germany; Peeters came from Belgium as did Brill from the Netherlands. Professors who purchased our books included faculty from Yale and Columbia University in the United States; Durham in England and St. Andrews in Scotland; Bonn, Karlsruhe, and Erlangen in Germany; and Otago in New Zealand.

This was a wonderful opportunity to interact with scholars from around the world and share our excellent resources.

In a tumultuous election year—such as the one we are experiencing now—Christians may be tempted to stay away from the ballot box. In the everyday political discussions Christians may have with family, friends, co-workers, and strangers, it is often tempting to throw our hands up in the air in desperation and threaten to withhold our vote this time around. Often this is just the easy way out, a way to avoid thinking through extremely difficult and nuanced positions. People often forget that no matter how bad the candidates may seem, not voting also carries with it negative consequences that must be considered.

In CPH’s latest Bible Study—Called to Vote: A Christian’s Approach to Elections—Ken Schurb provides four lessons on the Christian citizen’s relationship to American politics. In the first three lessons, Schurb discusses the distinctions made by Christians (and God’s Word) that must be kept in mind while voting: the difference between God’s Word/human opinion, that God rules in two distinct ways (which correlate to Law and Gospel), and the distinction between being a ruler and the one being ruled. The fourth and final lesson prompts Christians to take concrete measures to provide for the welfare of their neighbor.

For Christians wondering how they should approach this election season, Called to Vote provides the basic Christian view of the political process necessary to make informed decisions in a way that will best serve our neighbor. The lessons learned here will last way beyond 2016, providing American Christians with the rationale needed for political involvement at the local, state, and federal levels. Now’s the time to start thinking clearly about these things.

After Martin Luther’s Postils (sermons on the appointed Bible readings of the Church Year), Johann Spangenberg’s Questions & Answers were the premier Lutheran devotional book of the Reformation era. His explanations of the chief parts of Scripture, in question-and-answer format, taught and fed countless Evangelical-Lutheran people of all ages and vocations for centuries. Now for the first time, this entire work has been translated by Matthew Carver for modern believers to be built up in their knowledge of God, faith in Christ, and love for God and neighbor.

In this excerpt, Spangenberg expands on the biblical text of Luke 2 and ponders the difficulties that the Holy Family may have faced at Christ’s birth. Thereby he reminds us that Christ, even in His birth, experienced humility and suffering for our sake, on account of which the angels rejoice. [Read more…] about The Christian Year of Grace [EXCERPT]